House 5863

What a racket. They unexpectedly canceled the room, kept the money, and then made it your problem to fight for a refund. They claimed they tried to contact us, but regardless of the reason, keeping the payment after canceling the booking is unacceptable. It felt obvious they canceled to relist the room at a higher price because of local events and increased demand. Would not recommend.

AVOID!! This place cancels you for no reason and then still charges your bank. They tell you to rebook. Crooked operation. Go on booking and check out their one star reviews saying the same. Wish I had known before booking with them!

Here are the facts about our stay. In early April we booked 1 room for 4 nights and a second room for 2 nights. The total for this visit was around $1,500, fair enough. While we were staying at House 5863 the owner illegally recorded our private conversations in the common areas without our consent. This is a Felony in the State of Illinois. He has since updated his terms and conditions to give himself the right to record private conversations in common areas. He also charged us an additional $3,500 for rooms that we didn’t use. We filed a dispute on the $3,500 with our credit card company. 3 weeks later the dispute was settled in our favor. The owner then proceeded to charge us an additional $13,000 (not a typo) for “adjustments “. Our $1,500 booking was somehow going to cost us an extra $16,500. Obviously, we filed disputes on the extra charges and they have been settled in our favor. The owner has fabricated stories about us being intoxicated, yet we don’t drink. We supposedly disturbed the other guests, but we never saw any other guests and as far as we could tell there were none. I can’t say this plainly enough, this guy is a crook and a fraudster. Do not stay here, there are plenty of other options in the area

What a wonderful experience!! Everything was neat and clean! The breakfast foods were always stocked for us, coffee was made, and we had an ice maker!! It was quiet and the neighborhood was beautiful. The flowers were blooming and the tree canopy is incredible!! The shower was fantastic! The deck off our room was so well kept, with flowers and plants and lovely furniture to sit comfortably while enjoying the evenings and the mornings. I cannot say enough about House 5863!! I highly recommend this bed and breakfast, and will stay there whenever I visit Chicago, if there is a room available!! Great job on creating a perfect place to stay!!!

This was my first experience in a bed and breakfast and probably my last. My youngest sister and I stayed here 2 nights. First the Pros. This is a charming place in a decent location depending on where you need to go. There are also lovely outside sitting areas. Cons: when we arrived at our schedule appointment, I rang the bell several times and then texted that we were here. Response I received was ring the bell. I said I had several times and then the owner came to the door and let us in. This did not feel very welcoming. I have food allergies and had placed a special request since breakfast would be included. Upon arrival, I could see there was nothing I could eat but a piece of fruit and when I mentioned my request to the owner, he said he never received the request but also turned his head away to say it. I asked if they had any boiled eggs and he told me I could go to Whole Foods which we never saw in our many walking travels. As my sister stated, he lived on the property so he could have just boiled me a couple of eggs or gone to Whole Foods since he said it was so close. Also, there were apples the second day which I got excited about but they were in such terrible shape it was like somebody had beaten them. No fruit nor any other food for me. Additionally, the floor in our room and bathroom were filthy. They had not been dusted much less mopped. The corners and edges were also very dirty and the shower wasn't very clean. I asked other guests if their rooms were clean and they said no. They did say they had seen a cleanliness decline over the years. We were charged a $45 cleaning fee. Finally, there was no air conditioning and it was a hot weekend in the 80's. My sister was incredibly uncomfortable and we definitely wouldn't have stayed here if we had known prior. Air conditioning is standard in the Midwest. Although this property is only 5 minutes from our middle sister, I would not stay here again. Neither she nor I will be recommending this place in the future. And my sister graciously boiled me some eggs and brought them over 10:00 at night so I could eat something for breakfast. Just a Bed for me😥 Response to owner after their scathing response: Instead of taking constructive criticism and doing better, you decided to lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie. Just know everything he said, was a lie. And I guess I'm banned now. Funny how we were rarely even on the property, we were there for the Bruno Mars concert and in great moods, and our arrival was early but I didn't ring the bell until 3:59 for our 4 o'clock appointment so I guess that wasn't a lie. And that garden I was so loud in, we were Never in. I have attached the text from the special request that was sent to them and a text that they are happy that we stayed with them. .Yes we did meet Robert and had a wonderful conversation. We truly were rarely there. Arrived, dropped luggage, went out to eat and then the Chicago Architectural tour, came home and went to straight to sleep. Saturday we left at 10 am, came home for an hour late afternoon to change and left for the Bruno Mars concert. We were gone Sunday by 8 am. And if we were so loud, why did no one say anything to us? Also, this man chided me for disclosing medical information, yet he broadcast my medical information on a public forum. Who is at fault here? 🤔

This was my seventh stay here, and the property continues to impress me every time. The owners regularly update and refresh the space every few years, so everything feels modern, well maintained, and inviting. The property is beautifully decorated, exceptionally clean, and very spacious, with plenty of comfortable common areas perfect for relaxing or spending time with friends and family. Very Clean and updated place. The neighborhood is beautiful, safe, and convenient, with easy street parking readily available. There are also many excellent restaurants nearby, all just a short drive away. Erick was incredibly helpful throughout our stay, and we once again thoroughly enjoyed our visit. We absolutely plan to stay here again the next time we are in Chicago. Thank you for such a great space and being a great host. Thank you for making sure we stay safe at your establishment.

Stayed here almost 3 weeks, 12 “business days” ago, and have not received a deposit back which was extremely high for the space. Was put into a room different than the one which was booked and felt pushed out by the caretaker before checkout time. There were pubic hairs all over the shower and trouble with the a water handle. I stay in rentals all over the country full time for work and would not recommend this to anyone and would absolutely never come back. Poor customer service, the free snacks are not worth the price nor the headache. The lack of communication and straight up robbery of my deposit for a room I left tidy and barely used is really upsetting. The hotel I stayed at for two weeks afterwards had my deposit back yesterday, so just save yourself the hassle and get a room with a reliable business. Will update review if deposit is returned but seems doubtful after no response from text or email. Edit- I merely wrote a review about your own policies not being accurate. I have absolutely no idea what the “priest/ minister” comment is even about, very strange and believe you are confused maybe about a different guest. You can be nasty and lie if you’d like, the unhinged email about my sexuality can speak for itself. Thanks for outing yourself as a terrible person on top of a terrible business owner. Edit- 5/19/26 A long time later and I still think of this as the worst joint I’ve ever had the displeasure of staying at. I plead with anyone reading to not give Eric your business. PLEASE read the huge amount of one star reviews, including mine, before you book. This guy is AWFUL and the space is unsafe. He will try to claim people are drunk and unreasonable instead of owning up to being a terrible host with misleading info/policies and false booking standards. This rental is more stale than the pastries he peddles. Apparently the same garbage is being done to other people since my stay, and I’m not surprised. I’ve reported the listing to bbb and Chicago authorities. What a mess. Shame on you, Eric. I’m glad to see your rating has consistently gone down since my visit, and hopefully continues to do so. Oh boy will he continue to dig himself in here too 😆 guy hates getting called out for his behavior. I am not angry bud- sounds like a you problem. I’ve kept my name from google for good reason the last 5 years, but once again I always thought you had me confused with another guest as is apparent by you calling me Sharlene; check the books if you’d like! The review of Sharlene’s is still up (proudly, I’m sure) and yet you refuse to acknowledge you didn’t fulfill our expectations as a host. Hard to keep all those lies straight, isn’t it? My email address with my name on it has not changed since my stay. Truly, a frank apology via email could have been enough for me to not leave a poor review. Instead, I still think of it a year later on how not to run a customer facing business. Get a media manager or a host/ greeter if you hate dealing with the service side of things. Get it together, man. I never lodged a cc dispute with this establishment, just bbb and the housing authority. I hope you’ve stayed busy and your customer service has improved! Touch some grass soon, get your blood pressure down so you can clean those showers. Best of luck. Looks like you reviewed and edited your response, as it was incorrect. Big surprise. I have screenshot for my records, however and will be submitting this to the open complaint I have w Chicago authorities. Thanks for the additional info! Quite embarrassing indeed.